Rodón in All-Star form with 12-K CG vs. Padres

SAN DIEGO -- Joc Pederson is likely to have company at the All-Star Game later this month.

Left-hander Carlos Rodón burnished his case for a spot on the National League team by striking out 12 in a complete game to help push the struggling Giants back over .500 with a 3-1 win vs. the Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park.

• Box score

Rodón allowed one run on two walks and three hits, none after the second inning as he retired 22 of the final 23 batters he faced en route to delivering his first complete game since his no-hitter against Cleveland last year.

Wilmer Flores ensured Rodón’s gem didn’t go to waste, delivering a go-ahead two-run homer off Luis García to snap a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning.

Rodón sent down 21 in a row before issuing a two-out walk to Luke Voit in the ninth, but he managed to strike out Jorge Alfaro on three consecutive upper-90s fastballs to cap his 112-pitch effort and deliver the 12th complete game in the Majors this year.

“This was the best I think we’ve seen him,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “It was pretty evident at the beginning of the game he had stuff.”

Rodón improved to 8-5 with a 2.70 ERA and 124 strikeouts over 100 innings this year, making him an obvious candidate to earn his second consecutive All-Star nod on Sunday, when the full rosters are announced (2:30 p.m. PT on ESPN).

His brilliant performance provided a much-needed lift for the Giants, who entered Saturday having lost 14 of their previous 18 games and in danger of slipping below .500 for the first time since last April.

“Anytime you lose multiple games in a row, you want to be the guy that’s the stopper,” Rodón said. “That was kind of the goal today, to go out there and give my best effort.”

At 42-41, the Giants still aren’t where they want to be, but they’re hoping Rodón’s gutsy performance can help inspire the turnaround they’ve been searching for over the past couple of weeks. They still have plenty of ground to make up, as they currently sit three games behind the Phillies for the final NL Wild Card spot.

“Last time, he mentioned that we needed to play with more fire,” Kapler said. “It’s great when the guy who says that comes out and provides the fire.”

The Giants have been careful with Rodón’s workload, but they felt it was the right time to push him given the efficiency he showed on Saturday. Leaning primarily on his fastball-slider combination, Rodón induced a season-high 27 swinging strikes while delivering his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the year. Three of his strikeouts came against Padres star Manny Machado, who had homered in the first two games of this four-game series.

“Manny is a very, very, very good hitter,” Rodón said. “A lot of respect for Manny when he’s at the plate. As far as figuring him out, today was my day, and today wasn’t his. He’s gotten me, and I’ve gotten him.”

The Giants loaded the bases with no outs against Darvish in the second inning, but they managed to scratch across only one run on Brandon Crawford’s sacrifice fly to left field. A fielding error by first baseman Brandon Belt allowed the Padres to tie the game in the bottom of the second, creating a deadlock that remained in place until Flores came through with his 10th homer of the year.

Two days after a tight battle between Logan Webb and Joe Musgrove, Rodón went toe to toe with Yu Darvish in the second pitchers’ duel of this series.

“It just felt good,” Flores said. “Our pitchers, they’ve been awesome the last three weeks. It was good to pick them up today.”

Despite enduring one of their worst slumps of the year, the Giants tried to keep the mood light before the game on Saturday, holding a home run derby during batting practice at the suggestion of Evan Longoria. Austin Slater ended up beating Austin Wynns in the competition, drawing plenty of smiles and cheers from players and coaches alike. Flores, who hit earlier in the day, didn’t participate, noting that he “saved it for the game” instead.

Kapler said he thought the derby eased tension and restored some good vibes to the clubhouse, which could help the Giants build momentum moving forward.

“I think this team is a lot better than what we’ve shown the last couple of weeks,” Rodón said. “I think we’re headed in the right direction.”